Previous stackers for patties have lacked dependability in accurately counting the stacks and in moving the stacks out of the machine quickly while protecting stack orientation. In some other stackers, the finished stack must be moved out of the way in the interval required to handle a single patty, which either increases the patty interval, thus slowing down the entire machine, or requires other mechanism to protect stack orientation during fast stack removal.
An object of the present invention is to provide one or more parallel independent lanes, each of which receives a series of patties, conveys them at a reasonably high rate of speed to a discharge point where each patty is impelled outwardly and slightly upwardly and then deflected into a horizontal plane, if necessary, and stopped at a predetermined point where it is allowed to drop into a substack supported upon a reciprocatable stacker plate. When a selected set number of patties has been received into a substack, the stacker plate is removed quickly from its supporting position, thus dropping the substack without any substantial tilting thereof into a finished stack volume below. Control means continues the counting and stacking of substacks until a predetermined count of the finished stack is reached. Thereafter, the finished stack is moved out of the stack volume, the arrangement being such that the delivery of the completed stack takes place in the stacking interval required for at least two patties which permits a gentle handling of the finished stack which protects the stack orientation without slowing down the operation of the machine.